Contest Unveils Year's Best Night Sky Photos

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Despite our millennia-long obsession with stargazing — it's
recorded in everything from our ancient monuments to primitive
art to modern-day TV shows — many humans today will never witness
the magnificent scale of the stars' and planets' nightly light
show, scientists say.

Light pollution, the scourge of stargazers everywhere, is
increasingly blotting out the celestial dazzle once available to
all.

Wish you could get the views your great-great-grandparents may
have gotten just by stepping out the front door? Take a look at
the winning photographs in this year's Earth & Sky Photo
Contest, put on by The World at Night (TWAN), an international
organization dedicated to night-sky photography. [Related:
See all the Contest-Winning Photos.]

Catch a glimpse of a shimmering
aurora, the riot of stars above an Alpine village, or an
apocalyptic yellow sky over Portland, Oregon.

About 240 entries poured in from 30 different countries. Judges
selected 10 winning images in two categories — photos that
showcase light pollution's effects, and photos that reveal the
beauty of dark skies unsullied by invading lights.

One of the judges said that although the winning images are all
incredible, the contest is about more than just pretty pictures.

"When you're out under a really dark sky and you see the stars
and the other planets as they move in their orbits, it shows us
something about our place in the universe," said Mike Simmons,
president of Astronomers Without Borders, an education
organization. "You realize you're a part of something much larger
than what we experience in our daily life."

The photographs that capture views free of light pollution are
from spots as varied as Iceland, California and China, but far
removed from urban sprawl.

Because of
light pollution, as much as two-thirds of the world's people
can no longer see the Milky Way, the cloudy swath of stars that
indicates the arc of our galaxy, according to some NASA
estimates. It's a situation Simmons described as sad, and one
that has economic consequences as well.

"We're spending enormous amounts of money shining light up into
the sky that is purely waste. It's like watering your lawn, but
half of the water goes the wrong way," Simmons told
OurAmazingPlanet, adding that if reflectors were affixed to the
tops of streetlights and other offenders, cities could cut down
on their power usage.

"You'd get twice as much light on the ground and less in the
sky," Simmons said.

The photo contest, now in its second year, proved extremely
popular. Organizers are already planning for next year's
competition, which will continue TWAN's mission to highlight the
incredible views available right here on Earth.

"If you just don't have lights shining in your eyes at night, you
can see the most amazing sights for yourself," Simmons said. "It
doesn't require a spacecraft."